Learning Backgammon—Breaking Down the Game

By Phil Simborg

The best way to learn the game is not just by playing, although that is essential, but by breaking down the game into key segments and studying and learning those one at a time.  The game is simply too varied, too confusing, and there’s just too much to to take in, absorb, and remember everything.

Even if you are a highly experienced player, it is helpful to break your game down into these segments and see where you could use improvement.

In my lessons, I always try to concentrate on one or two areas at a time so that we can thoroughly discuss and learn that aspect of the game before moving on.  A list of the areas of play also helps me assess strengths and weakness and that allows my students and I to determine where to spend our time in future lessons.

Following is a list of my breakdown of those areas and the lessons, pretty much in the order we attack them:

1. Opening Moves—you simply have to learn and memorize the best moves
2. Backgammon odds—the basic odds of the game including odds of hitting, odds of making points, odds of winning, and why it is important to understand those odds
3. Pip Counting—the importance of the race and learning how to count pips
4. Early Checker play—the second and third moves, and basic checker strategy
5. Duplication—when it applies and how to use it.
6. The Doubling Cube for money games—we start with money games because the take point and cost of gammons is always the same and it’s the easiest to learn.
7. The Doubling Cube for match play—we get into match equity and take points, but I also believe that for beginner and intermediates, there are strategies that don’t use the pure mathematic approach that will work better at that level
8. Rules of thumb—simply memorizing and understanding some basic rules of thumb of the game that I have compiled over the years
9. DMP and 2-away/2-away cube and checker play strategy
10. Crawford and post Crawford cube and checker play strategy
11. Giving the Cube—basic thought process and strategies when thinking about giving the cube
12. Taking the Cube—basic thought process and strategies when thinking about taking the cube
13. Bearing your checkers in to your inner board
14. Bearing checkers off
15. Playing back games
16. Defending back games
17. Playing holding games
18. Defending holding games
19. Going for gammons and backgammons
20. Preventing gammons and backgammons
21. Prime vs. Prime games
22. Market Losers…how they affect cube decisions
23. Communication—keeping your checkers in range of each other
24. Off-balance hitting…hitting at times that may seem counter-intuitive
25. Using the bots—how to best use Extremegammon as a learning tool
26. Key reference positions and key numbers—some positions and numbers you simply need to have in your memory bank that will help you make better decisions over the board
27. Playing your opponent—how to adjust your game for the different skill levels and individual traits of your opponents
28. Tournament play—strategies and ideas to help do better at tournaments
29. Money play and chouette play—strategies that apply specifically for money play
30. Applying ROT and MCV theory
31. Applying Robertie’s Law of Market Losers
32. Applying Simborg’s Law
33. Applying Woolsey’s Law
34. When to go for the gammon and when to cash
35. Shortcuts to remember take points and price of gammons
36. Major game plans, strategies, and methodology for decision-making
37. Pip counting techniques
38. Trice Formula
39. Keith Count
40. DMP play
41. Gammon Save play
42. Gammon Go play
43. Attitude and psychology to optimize performance and enjoyment